Monday, January 23, 2012

TechBytes:Gym-Pact... is this a scam?

Basically you set a goal of how many days a week you want to go to the gym ( for example, I chose 4) and pick a start date, then you have to check in through the application when you're at the gym to earn your cash.

After you build your profile you have to set your "stakes", this is what you will be charged for every workout you skip. They range from $5(which is the minimum) to $100.

When you are at your gym you have to check-in and they will verify the address through GPS.

NO CHEATING ALLOWED.

The website says they have over 40,000 gyms in their database, university's included.

Don't see your gym? You can add it yourself and they will verify the address.

Check-ins are tallied on Sunday nights and the money you receive is from other members who didn't make their goal for the week and is sent via PayPal (not sure how often or what day they transfer the money, and the website is not clear)

I suggest reading through FAQ's before signing up/submitting your credit card. They actually require a doctor's note if you do not make your goal for the week because you were sick/injured and do not want to be charged.

That seems a little absurd to me....

This app/program is not something I would personally use because I do not feel comfortable giving them my credit card information and the reviews seem to be less than favorable.

I think a better idea would be to make your own gym-pact jar, set the stakes at whatever you would like them to be and when you miss a workout put cash into your jar, and you can donate the money to a charity of your choice. That way you see where your money is going and it doesn't get lost/stolen in cyberspace. Another option is to create a jar and every time you DO workout you put money into it and treat yourself to something special once you hit a certain goal.

11 comments:

They just hooked this up to RunKeeper which I have been using to track my walking/running routine. AS long as you're out for a minimum of 30min and go over 1/2 mile it counts as a workout, and since RunKeepr tracks using GPS as well you can't necessarily cheat it (unless you want to drive REALLY slow for about 30min). I figured it's worth a shot so I just set it up for the 4 workouts at $10 and we'll see. I know I'll get out there since I've been pretty consistent thus far, so I'll let you know after a couple of weeks how they do. Worst comes to worse I'm out $10 and now I know! If it does work I think it will be worth it.

The whole point is that this app keeps you honest. Sure, you can make a gym-pact jar, but you can just say, "Oh, I was too busy this week, and that's why I couldn't make it, so I shouldn't have to pay," or "I'm a bit short on cash this week, so I'll just pay after payday" and then never pay. Or, even when you do make it, you can just "borrow" from your past payments. In order to be effective, there has to be accountability, and there's often temptation to cheat when you're the one holding yourself accountable.

If you're uncomfortable giving them your credit card info, you can now link your PayPal account instead. Also, some credit cards, like Bank of America, offer a "virtual" credit card (I think they call it EasySafe or something), where you can set the credit limit and expiration date, and once it's charged it can only be used at that same vendor, so there's no worry about people stealing your info and going on a shopping spree in your name (unless they're willing to do all their shopping at that same store). You can close it whenever you like.

As far as rewards payments, they keep track of your rewards in your account, but you have to manually tell them when you want to withdraw your money, once you reach a $10 threshold. There is a $1 fee to withdraw money, probably because PayPal charges them to make a transfer, so you're better off letting the money accumulate and then making one big withdrawal, rather than withdrawing each time you hit $10.

This company is a fraud. They took money from me and I never even signed up for the service. They owe me $120. I have made several attempts to contact them but they refuse to return my emails. They don't have a phone number to call. They refuse to help anyone with issues they have with the app. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS.I still don't know how they got my paypal information!!

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